My ponderings come from a statement I heard today about our need to obey when God calls us to do something. Examples were given of Moses and Abraham and Noah, and how their obedience showed their faith. So, the explanation went, our obedience also shows our faith when we follow through with what God calls us to do and when we obey His Word.
I totally agree about obeying Scripture. But wait a minute. God spoke directly to Moses and Abraham and Noah--they heard God's voice and they knew it was God calling to them and telling them what to do. They didn't have the written word. We do today--and all that is in it we should obey. It's the extra-biblical "calling" from God that often leads people where they should not go and to do what they should not do. It's sort of a "sense" that God is telling them this or that.
I was listening to an acquaintance recently as she told me how she had followed through with doing something she knew God had "told" her to do and how it majorly blew up in her face. Now she's blaming God because he sent her into such a volatile situation. Did he? As I listened to her, it was apparent that what she stepped into was of her own inclination, but she so clearly "heard" God telling her to do it.
What this gal didn't realize is that she was hearing herself talking to herself. We are our own strongest counselors. If we tell ourselves specific truth from God's Word, it will lead us in pursuit of God's paths, and that's good counsel. But we should be cautious that we may merely be talking ourselves into pursuit of our own inclinations down our own paths, and that's not necessarily good counsel--even if we think we heard it from God, and even if it doesn't blow up in our face.
